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AIB Online Banking v BoI Online Banking

Do you use internet banking in your business? Maybe you’re a bit frustrated with the online banking product that you are currently using and you are trying to decide if you should switch. You might just be frustrated with your bank for other reasons and want to know what the alternative bank’s banking online is like.

Through my work with SME clients over the past 20 years, I have experience of both AIB’s offerings and BoI’s (Bank of Ireland’s) offerings. In this article, I set out the key elements of each product so that you are better able to choose between them.

AIB and BoI both have two offerings. One offering for smaller business and another offering for larger businesses.

For AIB, the product for small businesses is called Internet Banking and for larger businesses the product is called Internet Business Banking. For BoI the product for larger business is called Business On Line and the product for smaller business is called 365 Online.

For each of the products, I will now set out the key aspects below.

AIB Internet Business Banking (IBB)

Who is AIB IBB for?

IBB is for larger businesses where two or more people are required to authorise transactions.

Functionality of AIB IBB

With IBB you can view and print bank statements. You can set dual authorisations for transactions. You can initiate and authorise payments in both euro and foreign currency. You can export bank Statements to csv format. You can set limits as to what individual users can do.

You can’t stop cheques with IBB

Does it have Mobile Apps?

No, there is no mobile app for IBB

Does it support Online Accounting?

No. There is currently no facility to link your AIB account with an online accounting, such as Xero or Quickbooks Online, as is possible in other countries.

Is it easy to use?

The product uses a device called a digipass which is like a little calculator that generates security codes to authorise transactions. For example, you would enter a payee’s IBAN number to generate an authorisation code for that payee.

How much Transaction History does AIB IBB hold?

The system can hold up to 180 days transactions.

Browsers supported – AIB IBB

In my experience IBB works with all browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and Internet Explorer You can use it on a mobile phone if you have the digipass with you.

Security – AIB IBB

To log in you will be given a user ID and a password which changes regularly. To authorise payees and payments you will use the digipass to create security codes.

Cost of AIB IBB

IBB starts at 62.5 per quarter €250 pa) for one company.

AIB Internet Banking

Who is AIB Internet Banking for?

AIB internet Banking is for smaller businesses where one person manages all of the banking transactions.

Functionality of AIB Internet Banking

With AIB Internet Banking you can view and print bank statements. You can initiate and authorise payments in euros. You can export bank Statements to csv format. You cannot set limits as to what individual users can do.

You can stop cheques with AIB internet Banking

Does AIB internet Banking have Mobile Apps

There is a mobile app for AIB internet Banking for both Apple and Android

Does AIB internet Banking support Online Accounting

No. There is currently no facility to link your AIB account with an online accounting, such as Xero or Quickbooks Online, as is possible in other countries.

In theory, you could give your login details to the online product but this violates your agreement with the bank and you would be liable if someone used online banking to steal from the account.

Is AIB Internet Banking easy to use

The product uses a device called a card reader which uses your account debit card to generate security codes to authorise transactions.

Transaction History

The documentation says that the system can hold up 24 months transactions and 7 years of e-statements. In my experience it seems to hold about 60 transactions for each account.

Browsers supported

You can use it on a mobile phone or tablet with the app so you don’t need the browser but the browser would also work.

AIB Internet Banking – Security

To log in you will be given a user ID and a password which changes regularly. To authorise payees you will use the card reader to create security codes. Once you have the payee created, you don’t have to authorise individual payments – once you are logged into the system you can transfer money to payees who are already set up.

Cost of AIB Internet Banking

AIB internet Banking is free.

BoI Business On Line (BOL)

Who is BoI BoL for

BoI BoL is for larger businesses where two or more people are required to authorise transactions.

Functionality of BoI BoL

With BoI BoL you can view and print bank statements. You can set dual authorisation for transactions. You can initiate and authorise payments in both euro and foreign currency. You can set limits as to what individual users can do.

Mobile Apps

Supports Online Accounting?

No. There is currently no facility to link your BoI account with an online accounting, such as Xero or Quickbooks Online, as is possible in other countries.

You can only export your statements to PDF so you can’t get a csv which you would be able to reformat for import into Xero or Quickbooks Online.

Ease of Use?

The product uses a user id and passwords to log in.

There are two types of user – administrator and user. You will need at least two administrators to authorise most of the administrators actions. This can be awkward and in my experience, in smaller companies, one person holds all administrator passwords which cancels out the security benefits.

To set up payees, the system sends an authentication code to a designated mobile phone number for that user. They are currently rolling up an app for ios and android whereby the app will generate the authentication code rather than rely on text messages.

Once you are logged in you use a digital certificate password to authorise payments. You can only authorise transactions on pcs where your digital certificate is stored.

If you make mistakes with your password you may be locked out of the system which will require an administration to reactivate the locked out user.

The system uses Java and can be a bit temperamental. If you do something, like use an unauthorised back button, you could be logged out and can’t get back for 15 minutes which can be frustrating.

As you can probably tell, in my experience BoL is the most frustrating of all the options out there.

Transaction History

The system seems to hold several months transactions. I haven’t tested it fully but it seems to go back for at least a number of months.

Browsers supported

Their product information says that it works on Internet Explorer and latest versions of Chrome and Firefox. In my experience BoL only works with Internet Explorer. You can login with Firefox and Chrome but you will not have all the functionality.

BoI BoL uses Java for security and I don’t think recent versions of Chrome and Firefox support Java.

You can view transactions on Safari but I don’t believe you can use the digital certificate on Safari.

Security of BoI BoL

To log in you will be given a user ID and a password which changes regularly. To authorise payees and payments you will use the digital certificate, stored on that machine to create security codes.

As far as I know, Internet Explorer is the least secure browser out there now and I am very surprised that this is the main platform for online banking for anyone.

Cost

BoI BoL starts at € 10.00 per month (€120 pa) for one company.

BoI – Business 365 Online Banking

Who is 365 Online Banking for?

BoI 365 Online is now open for smaller businesses where one person manages all of the banking transactions.

Functionality of 365 Online Banking?

With BoI 365 Online you can view and print bank statements. You can initiate and authorise euro and foreign currency payments. You can export bank Statements to excel format. You cannot set limits as to what individual users can do.

You can’t stop cheques with BoI 365 Online

Mobile Apps for 35 online Banking?

There is a mobile app for 365 Online for both Apple and Android

Does 365 Online Banking support Online Accounting?

No. There is currently no facility to link your BoI account with an online accounting, such as Xero or Quickbooks Online, as is possible in other countries.

In theory, you could give your login details to the online product but this violates your agreement with the bank and you would be liable if someone used online banking to steal from the account.

Ease of Use of 365 Online Banking?

The product uses a user id, a PIN and some security questions to login and to authorise transactions.

Transaction History

I can’t find what BoI states that it holds but I can see that for some accounts it goes back at least one year. That may be because it has low numbers of transctions.

Browsers supported

You can use it on a mobile phone or tablet with the app so you don’t need the browser but the browser would also work.

Security of 365 Online Banking

To log in you will be given a user ID and a password which changes regularly. To authorise payees you will also use security questions. Once you have the payee created, you don’t have to authorise individual payments – once you are logged into the system you can transfer money to payees who are already set up.

Cost of 365 Online Banking

BoI 365 Online is free.

Conclusion

If you want to have admin staff create payments for you to authorise later, then you must use either IBB or BoL.

If you are a smaller business, where you do the full initiation and authorisation then you could use the free versions.

The free versions are both easy to use.

If you want to link your Xero or Quickbooks to online banking then you have to use workarounds as the Irish banks are not making it easy for you.

Your Turn

I have compiled this information based on my own experience with the various products. If you think I have missed something or have given incorrect information please let me know. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.